We went on the Parade of Homes today. There were only 5, but we had from noon until 5:00 to get them all in and they were pretty spread out – like from halfway from Rice Lake to Cumberland to way east of New Auburn.  We got out of the last one at 4:50.

We saw some beautiful things. My favorite house was built for a woman a little older than us with a whole bunch of grandchildren. She calls it “Nana’s Little House in the Big Woods.” It has one of those old fashioned wood-burning cook stoves in the kitchen, which actually throws out a lot of heat on a day like today. She has a regular stove, too, of course. Because of this, the kitchen/ dining room area is huge, and I mean huge. They also have a long, closed-in porch along the back side of the house, off the living room. It looks so inviting – really makes the whole house look relaxing. One of my favorite rooms was the little den – probably 8′ x 8′, with a roll-top desk and another desk and some shelves and stuff. And a door to shut so you don’t have to look at all the office mess. There were all the other normal stuff like walk in closets, master bath, fieldstone fireplace. You know … all the important stuff. That we’ll never have! But it was fun to look.